Another Deception - No Reaction

A week ago NPR reported on the crash of a US transport helicopter that sadly killed all seven people on board. Introducing the story on February 7th, Michele Norris - noting that insurgents claimed to have downed the helicopter - said, "...but the Pentagon says early indications suggest it had mechanical problems." This was followed by Tom Bowman giving a fair bit of air time to the Pentagon assertions about the crash, including the following statements:

• "...they say all indications at this point point to some sort of mechanical trouble..."
• "...initial indications appear to be mechanical failure."

When I heard this I thought it a little strange, and so a day or so later went searching for the video of the alleged attack to see if it was available. It was easy to find on YouTube; it's here if you want to see it. In the photo on this post, you can see the smoke trail of the missile on its way to the helicopter. In the video, an explosion of the helicopter follows shortly and then flames and the crash.

This morning, NPR notes that the Pentagon has reversed itself. Renee Montagne, in the briefest of reports states, "And the US military now says a helicopter that went down last week outside Baghdad was shot down. That crash at first had been blamed on mechanical failure." Actually it was at first blamed on hostile fire (by insurgents) and then later claimed to be mechanical failure by the Pentagon.

So what gives? And why doesn't NPR comment on the obvious - the Pentagon was lying. Any dope looking at the video can see that it wasn't mechanical failure. This kind of unreliable Pentagon information is especially important now when NPR is frequently rebroadcasting and discussing Pentagon "intelligence" on Iran as if it were reliable and credible.